WC attendance at second highest

The average attendance at 2014 World Cup matches is now the second highest. Photo: Matthias Schrader

Rio de Janeiro – The average attendance at 2014 World Cup matches is now the second highest with an average gate of 52 762 overtaking the 52 491 at the 2006 tournament in Germany, Fifa said on Sunday.

The record average attendance was set in the United States in 1994 at 68 991.

“We think that record will stay for quite some time due to the huge capacity of the stadiums in the US,” FIFA spokeswoman Delia Fischer told the daily briefing.

The total attendance after 60 matches with four still to play stands at 3 165 693, meaning an average of 98.3 percent capacity across the tournament.

When the World Cup was played in Brazil in 1950, the 22 matches produced a total of 1 045 246 spectators at an average of 47 511 per game, a record that stood until the 32-match World Cup in England in 1966. – Reuters